An Iranian-born filmmaker learned that in Iran, homosexuality is a crime punishable by death. But the government has provided a way out for the nation’s gays and lesbians: a sex-change operation. Fully paid for by the state, the procedure would allow these people to conform to Iran’s theocratic standards of sexuality.Eshaghian's film reveals a culture so steeped in hatred of gays and lesbians that it deems a sex change preferable to simply accepting differences in sexual orientation.
by Tom Vanderbilt
Our behavior is heavily influenced by the decisions of Traffic Engineers every day. If you were asked to name a famous Traffic Engineer, though, chances are slight you would credit the onetime New York City traffic czar, Henry Barnes, with inventing the “Barnes Dance” - wherein an entire intersection is given over to a four-way pedestrian crossing.
One traffic engineer, however, did achieve a measure of global celebrity with his ideas. The idea that made Hans Monderman most famous is that traditional traffic safety infrastructure - signs, lights, curbs, lines, and so on - is not only often unnecessary, but can endanger those it is meant to protect.
A Monash University scientist has discovered that key appetite control cells in the human brain degenerate over time, causing increased hunger and potentially weight-gain as we grow older.The initiative is a constitutional amendment, similar to ones already enacted in 26 other states, that would overturn the California Supreme Court decision that legalized same-sex marriage. It needs a simple majority of votes to pass in an upcoming referendum.
Like most travelers in the post-Sept. 11 world of heightened airport scrutiny, Berkeley resident Nancy Kates is familiar with the drill: Shoes, belts, laptop, shampoo.
For Kates, though, the security check at Oakland International Airport got too invasive. A big-busted woman wearing a large underwire bra, she set off the metal detector and was checked by a female TSA agent with a metal-sensitive wand.
"The woman touched my breast. I said, 'You can't do that,' " Kates said. "She said, 'We have to pat you down.' I said, 'You can't treat me as a criminal for wearing a bra.' "
Noodles made from corn and soybeans left people feeling fuller longer and represented a technological breakthrough, the Choson Shinbo newspaper said. North Korea is dependent on foreign food aid. Last month the UN warned that residents were experiencing their worst food shortages in a decade.
But the communist country remains reluctant to allow experts to fully assess the scale of the problem or give them adequate access to deliver aid.
This dangerous-looking five-foot-long weapon has been recovered by police in Gloucester. The shocked officers who took custody of it, are using it to publicize a five-week period during which they hope around 30,000 weapons will be handed in. A spokesman for police said: "It is a particularly nasty blade that can, literally, take someone's head off. We are very glad it is off the streets and we want more weapons handed in."
The blade is believed to be a stainless-steel copy of a Klingon weapon called a Batliff from the science fiction series Star Trek.
